The topic of same-sex marriage tends to spark heated debates, but cooler heads usually prevail when it comes to the idea of domestic partners and workplace benefits for those couples whether they are of the same sex or different sexes.

If you agree that companies who offer benefits to workers' spouses ought to offer those same benefits to workers' domestic partners, then you might be surprised to learn that the federal tax code severely curtails such benefits for the workers who receive them.

Read our story today about one couple who faces as much as a $3,000 tax hit each year on their health benefits -- a tax hit that married couples at the same workplace don't have to pay -- simply because this couple happens to be comprised of two women.

It's always surprising, and often dismaying, how many contested social mores are locked into the tax code.

-- Andrea Coombes, Personal Finance editor

Same-sex couples face higher health costs

Each year as the April 15 tax deadline nears, Shane Snowden is reminded how much more she pays for health coverage for her same-sex partner than her heterosexual colleagues pay for their spouses' benefits. See TaxWatch.

TAXES

IRAs and taxes

You can lower your 2009 tax bill if you open up an IRA by April 15. Plus, there are new rules on converting to a Roth IRA. Here's what you need to know. Watch Personal Finance Minute.

ECONOMY & POLITICS

March ADP report shows unexpected job losses

U.S. private sector companies shed 23,000 jobs in March, according to the ADP employment report released Wednesday, casting a pall on expectations that the labor market was healing. See Economic Report.

German unemployment sees surprise drop

The total number of German jobless fell by a seasonally-adjusted 31,000 in March, defying expectations for a rise and raising hopes a feeble recovery by Europe's largest economy is gaining traction. See Economic Report.

Obama proposes expanded oil, gas exploration

President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed allowing offshore oil and gas development in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic coastline, a reversal of policy that may win him some support among Republicans but will earn him the ire of environmentalists. See Capitol Report.

Commentary: Financial reform: Will final law meet the test?

In that lumbering, lurching fashion we know so well from healthcare legislation, it looks like financial reform may actually see its way into law before the midterm elections. See Darrell Delamaide's Political Capital.

REAL ESTATE

Mortgage aid could hurt your credit score

PERSONAL TECH

Commentary: Why BlackBerry users will defect

Call it a matter of touch-screen envy, but many BlackBerry users are starting to feel the 24-month-contract itch. See Outside the Box.

IPhone battle raises stakes for AT&T

The Digits panel discusses what the end of AT&T's exclusive contract to sell iPhones in the U.S. will mean for the phone giant. Plus, how Apple's iPad is prompting software developers to make applications for its App Store rather than for other rivals; and WSJ's Lee Hawkins joins the set live from the New York International Auto Show. Watch Digits.

INVESTING

Supreme Court ruling may boost fund investors

Mutual-fund investors might soon see lower fees for their investments after a Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday. See FundWatch.

Where to invest when rates rise

As the economy improves, rate hikes loom, says Michael Cuggino, manager of the Permanent Portfolio fund family. He tells Jonathan Burton how stock and bond investors can blunt the impact of rising rates and take advantage of global growth. Watch Vide Report.

Commentary: Why bond yields may be headed much higher

It's always dangerous to think you know more about something than does the market itself. And this is especially the case when it comes to bonds, since the fixed-income market is the largest and most liquid in the world, and its participants include some of the best and brightest of the entire investment arena. See Mark Hulbert.

Bonds' epic comeback

By buying $1.25 trillion of mortgage securities, the Fed absorbed assets that otherwise would have needed buyers. Mark Gongloff explains how that kept money in the hands of investors, who instead went after the next natural choice: corporate bonds. Watch Video Report.

Stocks should 'grind higher'

Scott Marcouiller at Wells Fargo Advisers tells Larry Kofsky the disappointing ADP report is to blame for sending the market lower at the opening bell. But he notes that it's been a "great" quarter for the market. He sees a "continued grind higher" in the second quarter. Listen to Radio Report.

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